ShowSDRFree tool
Conference meeting yield calculator
Estimate how many meetings a conference should produce for you, and what each one costs, from the size of the attendee list and the rates at each step. The defaults are ShowSDR's measured 2026 rates; change any of them.
Where the defaults come from
Contact.io 2026: 824 attendees in the app, 543 messaged (66%), 139 replied (26%), 68 asked for a meeting (49% of replies), 15 agreed (22% of asks). The show rate default of 70% is an assumption, not a measurement; meetings held after that show were not systematically recorded. The spend default is a placeholder; sponsor tiers at one 2027 insurance show run from $4,850 to $30,000 before travel. Full tables: benchmarks 2026.
How to read the result
- Cost per meeting is your total show spend divided by meetings held. Add $2,500 if ShowSDR runs the outreach and compare against the meetings you would book by hand.
- The reach share is where most exhibitors lose: a booth team messages a few dozen people by hand; the app usually holds several hundred that match.
- Messages sent during the show replied at the same rate in our data but produced no agreed meetings. Set the reach share to what you can send before the show opens.
Questions
How many meetings should a trade show booth produce?
It depends on the list, not the booth. With 824 attendees in the app, two thirds matching and a 26% reply rate, the measured funnel produced 15 agreed meetings before the show. Use the calculator with your own attendee count.
What is a good cost per meeting at a conference?
Divide everything you spend on the show by meetings actually held. At $20,000 of spend and 10 meetings held that is $2,000 per meeting; at 20 held it is $1,000. Doubling the number of matches you reach is the cheapest way to halve it.
Does the calculator include ShowSDR's fee?
It shows both: cost per meeting on your show spend alone, and with a $2,500 ShowSDR campaign added.
Source: ShowSDR campaign ledgers, Contact.io 2026 (Whova, Denver, August 23 to 25) and Affiliate World Americas 2026 (iStack, Cancún, September 7 to 8), reconciled against the apps' own thread history after each campaign. Full tables and method: Conference outreach benchmarks 2026. Last reviewed 20 September 2026.